Hi everyone!
Welcome to Everyday Kanji! In this series, we’re going to present pictures of kanji seen in various places in Japan taken by the team members at JapanesePod101.com. That’s right - kanji seen and used everyday!

The theme for this week is kanji found on vending machines. Let’s take a look!

①売切 (urikire) = SOLD OUT

The word means that something is sold out. Usually, this word is written with a mixture of kanji and hiragana, as in: 売り切れ (urikire). However, it is possible to leave out one or even both of the hiragana. It will still be read the same way. In this case, only the two kanji are used in order to take up as little space as possible.

売切 (usually written as 売り切れ) = SOLD OUT
●売 (u(ri)) = to sell
●切 (ki(re)) = to cut

Sample Sentence:
新しいプレステのゲームが売り切れていた。Atarashii puresute no gemu wa urikirete ita.
The new Playstation game was all sold out.

②

釣り切れ (tsurigire) = out of change

This phrase means “out of change” and can be broken down into two parts: 釣り (tsuri), meaning “change”, and 切れ (gire in this case), meaning “out of”. This word lights up when the vending machine is out of change. Here, we can see that the vending machine is out of 10-yen coins.

Sample Sentence:
ジュースを自販機で買って、お釣りを取り忘れた。Jūsu o jihanki de katte, o-tsuri o toriwasureta.
I bought some juice at the vending machine and forgot to take my change.

③

稼動中 (kadōchū) = under operation, currently running

This is a picture of a vending machine that sells… cigarettes! Have you ever seen such a vending machine? You might be wondering about the possibility of minors being able to purchase cigarettes. Until recently, this had been a problem, but starting in 2008 a new system called TASPO was introduced. In order to buy cigarettes from a vending machine now, you must swip a TASPO card which proves that you are older than 20 years of age (the age for buying cigarettes in Japan).

稼動 (kadō) is a word that means “operation”, and the character 中 (chū) means “in the middle of”. Together, this means “under operation”, or “currently running”.

This is an application for the TASPO card that was mentioned in the last picture. This age identification card is needed to buy cigarettes from a vending machine. You first must apply for one, which is what these application forms are for. The word 申込 (mōshikomi) means “apply”